Update: Some customers of Verizon’s (VZ) high-speed FiOS Internet Service are reporting that when they mistype a website address, they are redirected to a Verizon’s own search engine page, regardless of what they have set as default. Verizon had introduced “Advanced Web Search” in June 2007.
Cox and Earthlink (ELNK) have dabbled in similar search-jackings, and if you use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, a mistyped URL leads you to MSN Search page. On the surface, it seems this is to save Verizon customers the hassle, but it is also a nice way for the incumbent to goose up their revenues via advertising. The ads on the site come from Yahoo (YHOO) and Ask (IAC).
Sure, they can’t beat Google, but they can game the system in their favor. Thus far, domain squatters have benefitted from mistyped web addresses, and seems like large ISPs are waking up to “money making opportunity.” If this trend spreads across the world, then pure-play search engines, especially Google have a reason to be concerned.
Verizon has an opt-out option for its Advanced Web Search service. Why make it a default - is what I ask. If they are just offering it as a helpful add-on, then make it an opt-in feature. Let the customer decide, what and where do they want to do. I have emailed Verizon to get their side of the story. Stay tuned.
Update from Verizon Spokesperson:
The industry went to this approach a couple of years ago. Many others have similar procedures and this has become a de facto industry standard.
The money we make from ad sales on this site offsets some (probably not all) of the cost of providing it. Nice as it is to get the cash, it’s not a significant income stream for a company like ours. Our procedure hardly makes a case that Verizon is unfairly competing with sites like Google or MSN or Yahoo that also offer search.
20 comments so far
10:31 AM PT
Install Yahoo, Google or AOL’s toolbars and the default install options all change your error page to use their search engines.
11:00 AM PT
FIOS isn’t the only one…i’m on dsl and my typo traffic is getting jacked as well.
11:23 AM PT
Could this be avoided by not using Verizon’s DNS?
12:24 PM PT
This is a real pain. The automatic redirect prevents editing of URL typos. Even a one-letter error leads to typing the whole thing again, since the URL isn’t in the address bar to be edited after the redirect. With a domain squatter, at least I don’t have to retype the whole thing.
12:45 PM PT
“Could this be avoided by not using Verizon’s DNS?”
Yes. They are just doing a DNS redirect. I would suggest using different DNS servers to get around this stupidity.
I use OpenNIC for my DNS as I find their servers to be mighty fast. http://www.opennic.unrated.net/public_servers.html
12:55 PM PT
Om,
Thanks for the link and bringing attention to this issue. I’m looking forward to hearing what Verizon has to say about it.
3:45 PM PT
Charter Communications does it too.
3:52 PM PT
Yikes! Verizon is forgetting money making and marketing rule number 1- Keep your customers happy.
Thanks for the head’s up!
5:12 PM PT
While annoying, at least they didn’t “break the Internet” like Verisign in 2003 with their “Site Finder” service, which pulled similar tricks on a more global scale.
..According to this article, anyway. ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Site_Finder
6:59 PM PT
Noticed this with my connection (FIOS in DC) in the past couple of weeks. Very annoying. Thanks for the link, Zac.
9:13 PM PT
[...] the ISPs don’t do the dns redirect trick [...]
5:02 AM PT
A lot of internet providers do this, it is very annoying.
5:08 AM PT
I have Verizon FiOS and this doesn’t happen to me. I work on a Mac so maybe it is a PC thing. When I activated my initial setup, it configured my email software so that my outgoing mail route is correct. I have a feeling that the browser re-routing is merely a preference change–like selecting a default home page.
6:16 PM PT
Let me see if I get this, you are all upset because you can’t spell and your ISP presents a search that tries to correct your mistake…?
I find it incredible how people see what they want to see.
Let’s look at the alternative:
A domain squatter that tries to install trojans and downloaders into your machine. Now thats a great alternative!
11:51 PM PT
Justin I couldn’t agree with you more. Who cares if your ISP is monitoring your traffic and redirecting it to generate more ad revenue?
Wow that’s a slippery slope! What if the ISP decides that users don’t want to ‘accidently’ view child p*rn from Norway? Redirect it! Make some more cash. Yeehaw! While we’re at it, who visits sites in Norway anyway? Redirect it! Cha-ching! Lot’s of malicious sites in Russia… redirect & cash in. The RIAA is leaning on us why don’t we redirect torrent sites and make another wad of cash? etc…
Once your ISP starts monitoring and redirecting your traffic, where do they draw the line?
11:11 AM PT
I care. My ISP redirects me to a search engine that doesn’t show advertisments. But, as Nathan said, you have to start all over with a miss-typed URL. Personally, I like to choose where my browser goes and If a website/URL no longer exists then I would rather see an error than too be redirected to some strange, unfamiliar website. I found this information helpful: http://www.swcp.com/~manos/blockads.html
I have since edited my hosts file to include the address of the offending website wilst using my local numerical address in conjunction with it and, I am no longer redirected. Be sure to read it thoroughly.
8:48 PM PT
[...] Although Verizon has been implementing its redirect program on a trial basis in several Midwestern states since June, it came under particular scrutiny earlier this week when ConsumerAffairs.com reported that mistyping URLs while using Verizon’s FiOS service results in getting redirected to Verizon’s own search engine. This led to some accusations by Web journalists and bloggers that Verizon was “shamelessly hijacking web browsers” and was trying to “goose up their revenues via advertising.” [...]
2:59 PM PT
This is worse than just a problem for misspellings and typos. We have internal network only domain URLS that are accessible via our VPN. With this Verizon system, when they can’t be found on the public DNS, we are redirected to the search page, instead of to our internal DNS and sites.
9:11 AM PT
[...] navigace používá v současnosti poskytovatelé internetového připojení EarthLink, Charter, Verizon, Cox a [...]
10:44 AM PT
[...] with opt out available, the service still scuzzy, and Verisign got ripped to shreds when they tried to pull this kind of stunt for all of .com and [...]
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